nolesrule

"I would argue that unless you were under duress when you signed the papers, you have a moral and ethical obligation to abide by the rules that you agreed to even if they are unenforceable. " You also have a moral and ethical obligation to defend your rights under federal, state and local laws. You cannot simply give away those rights by just signing a piece of paper that says so. That's why we have contract law and severability clauses.

Not all covenants are unenforceable by default, however there are federal, state and local laws that can supersede some or all of of the rules. And even after certain covenant rules have been ruled unenforceable in court, they still continue to keep those rules in place even though they can't be enforced. Since most people will sign anything put in front of them at the closing rather than walk away from the table and forfeit their deposit, the unenforceable rules are kept in place by HOAs and CAs in order to make the buyers think they can't do something, such as installing a satellite dish, even when they can. It's a deceitful practice.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

What's the worry? with our population estimated at about 305 million, that's only $2300 per person. Edited to remind everyone to read the above line as if it was dripping with sarcasm.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

"Wait, was just going to doublecheck to see if it's still around - and apparently Adobe has gobbled up Macromedia! HomeSite 5.5 is available from Adobe - they also own Dreamweaver. " I knew that it was still being supported, because I had to get my license key when I reinstalled the program. I didn't know that it was still being sold. I've been using it since 1.x when Nick Bradbury was still the programmer/owner. And it went from him to Allaire to Macromedia and now Adobe. And yeah, Adobe is now the king of commercial software for both graphic design and web design.

I do web development when I'm not busy being a stay at home dad to my 20 month old daughter, and I use an old text-based scripting editor called HomeSite, which I don't think is being sold anymore. I never liked working in WYSIWYG environments, because most of the time WYS is not WYG and the HTML is bloated. There are some similar free solutions available, but I never bothered because HomeSite still meets my needs (for now). I would have no idea what to recommend to someone that doesn't know HTML.

Why don't you have the merit badges if you got the cards? If you never received them, that's the responsibility of your troop to award you for your achievements (in a timely manner). If you received them and already lost them, ask your troop to get you replacements and you can offer to cover the expense. As jmwalston pointed out, specifically talk to your scoutmaster or advancement chair.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

Tico Perez is the new National Commissioner.

Yeah, it was popular actually. There were usually 5-10 boys working on something at any given time, and even more during the free periods. I still have the pocket knife sheath, the belt, the basket and the woven stool that I made while there. The counselors did more than teach the merit badges, they also helped those who were just crafting for fun. I think it also helped that it was right at the trading post (location, location, location), so when people stopped in for a snack or to pick up merit badge pamphlets, they saw the activities going on and could also see the different crafting items they could work on. Not everyone wanted to go to a free swim or free boating (or take a nap). Whether it still is popular 20 years later is another, but also relevant, question. Currently, our council has enough of a problem with getting its units to stay in-council for summer camp, mainly due to summer heat/humidity and the lack of a real waterfront for boating.

Welcome to Clearwater, Florida, my home sweet home. FYI, the ad I saw was for ordering custom patches. You have to remember that google ads, and any 3rd party bulk ad services (as opposed to direct selling ads and sponsorships), there is really very little control over the ads before they show up on a site. As a site owner, you have the ability to exclude them, but that's only after you (or someone else who notifies you) have seen the ads and can exclude them. Most ad providers allow site owners to auto-exclude ads for alcohol, tobacco and/or adult content, but beyond that you have to actively manage ads as they are added to the rotation without prior notification. Also, google ads work by an advertiser purchasing specific keywords. If those keywords appear on your site and are determined to be relevant by google, there's a good chance their ads will show up. It's quite possible that John doesn't even know that the ad you mentioned is appearing on his site. You could just shoot him an email so that he could decide what to do about it. I know all this from first-hand experience. I run the largest, most visited site on arena football outside the league's official site. Since we can't sell anywhere near our entire ad inventory, we rely on 3rd party ad providers so we can have an income stream.

"Get rid of the handicraft merit badges at summer camp. No more leatherwork. No more basketry. " When I went to summer camp a couple decades ago, these two merit badges were not offered as structured classes that required a sign-up. Rather, the shelter area outside the trading post (where the materials could be purchased) had the tools and counselors available all day long from 30 minutes after breakfast until about an hour before dinner. In other words, they were additional options to do as a free-time activity. Earning those merit badges was not required to participate, but the option was there for those who wanted to take advantage of it.

That's a great use of blogspot, combined with Google Calendar to keep everyone's schedule up to date.

This was an April Fools Day joke posted on the OAimages.com website earlier this year. Apparenlty someone didn't get the joke and has been spreading it around. http://blog.oaimages.com/2008/04/01/(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

It's the flag of the United States of America. Only the United States of America (through the Flag Code and the occassional related executive order) can determine what is official and what is not. Just because an organization (BSA or otherwise) says "this is how you fold the flag" doesn't make it official, just an unqualified recommendation conveyed in a manner of authority.

I was surprised when I found out that there was no official way to fold the flag...and yes, I knew the answer already, so I didn't look it up tonight. The traditional method of folding the flag into a triangle is so ingrained that people just assume that it is official. When done well, it really is a wonderfully ceremonial way to fold the flag. Besides, I'd rather it not remind me of folding my sheets. I really need to go to bed, but all this flag discussion reminded me that I still need to find a nice display case for my flag that flew over the Capitol when I earned Eagle. I'm thinking of going with something that has a shadowbox so I can add some of my patches from when I was a Boy Scout.(This message has been edited by nolesrule)

Ok. Here you go. Step by step instructions of the official way to fold a U.S. flag. 1. 2. 3. 4. I'm pretty sure that's an accurate description, although honestly, I'm not sure I got the exact number of steps correct.

I appreciate that.

"Silly people try to create symbolism where none exists." That's a paraphrase of what I said during the 10 semesters of English Lit courses I was required to take in high school and college. And yet we still give meaning to those pieces of literature that may or may not have been the author's intent. The flag itself is a symbol, so using symbolism in a flag retirement ceremony to help instill or enhance a sense of patriotism is more than appropriate for the occasion. Why NOT make the ceremony more meaningful by doing more than just throwing a flag on a fire if one chooses? As for protesters lighting themselves on fire, I didn't ask if it has happened. Of course it has. I asked if it was respectful and dignified. Besides, setting oneself on fire is not the same as setting someone else on fire, just as the flag does not set itself on fire. Last time I checked, being burned alive was considered a to be a disrespectful and undiginified method of capital punishment.

"The flag code refers to the flag as a "living" thing. Since when is it dignified or respectful to rend a living thing into pieces. Just burn the flag as it is, a flag, and not a bunch of scraps." Since when is it dignified or respectful to burn a living thing? (I believe "touche" would be the appropriate response to that) It's not all about what you do, but the manner in which you do it. Burning isn't a required method of retiring the flag, and there are many dignified and respectful ceremonies that include separating the field of stars from the stripes. It's not improper, it's not in violation of the U.S. Flag Code, so why be so argumentative on the subject?

Separating a flag as part of a retirement ceremony is not undignified ("dignified" being the requirement). It is being returned to its original fabric components, assuming it was stitched together from multiple pieces. It would still be preferable to burn the components rather than throw them in the trash. As long as it is done with respect, it doesn't matter whether the cloth is separated first or just burned.

Yeah, I know. I rambled a bit onto some different, but still relevant, side issues. I'm no economist, but I am good at math and I'm a small business owner that knows how to follow the money.

But does that flow take population size, wages and price points into account? We are outsourcing programming to India and manufacturing to China, countries with populations 3-4 times that of the U.S. At the same time, they are not receiving nearly the same wages that their American counterparts would have received, and the goods and services produced are being sold in those countries for much less, so the return flow isn't there either. A copy of MS Windows that costs us $150 to buy might cost $30 over there. $20 DVDs are sold for $2-3 in China and its neighboring countries. So that means not only are we sending them money for jobs that used to be ours, but we are also subsidizing their consumer purchases. So, when you take $35/hour jobs out of an economy of 300 million people and send them to a country of 1.2 billion people for $10/hour, how long does it take for the flow to reverse? Division of labor is supposed to reduce costs, and those savings are supposed to be passed on to the consumer. That's not what's happening. America's businesses have been corporatized, so rather than the savings being passed on to consumers, they are passed on to shareholders as dividends and awarded as massive bonuses to executives. Consumers no longer have the ability to negotiate price anymore on purchases beyond cars and house purchases, because big box retail stores (also corporatized) have put the mom and pop competitors out of business, funnelling the local economy's money to Bentonville, Arkansas (as an example) while paying their retail employees a non-living wage so that profits are not circulating back into the local economy.

The theory of a free market only works properly in closed systems. Once you start outsourcing labor to other markets (because it is cheaper in part because of lower costs of living), prices may reduce, but the money doesn't stay in the market and flows into another market. This reduces spending power, yet cost of living doesn't reduce as energy, water and other necessary services don't reduce in price. At the same time, people locally are forced into lower wages, because, well, their jobs would be outsourced to another country if they didn't...and even that isn't guaranteed.

Is the boy still going to be able to fit into his current uniform in two years? He'll likely need two or more uniform shirts anyway. I would suggest not worrying about which uniform to wear until you have to start putting the shirts together in the months just before the Jamboree. What you'll be able to get your hands on then will most likely answer your question. I think I had 4 uniform shirts for my Jambo trip in 1989. I still have 3 of them in the closet, and I vaguely remember converting one of them for use in my regular troop afterwards. Interestingly, the uniform shirt I currently wear is the same one I wore at my Eagle COH (It hasn't seen any major outdoor use). I think I'll strip the patches off all but one of my Jambo shirts and donate them to one of the units I service. I should have done that a long time ago.

Line item vetoes were ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1998, because it gives the president the power to effectively rewrite legislation by removing the parts he doesn't like. Creating legislation is not a power granted to the Executive branch of government. Changes to the basic separation of powers (like the line item veto) and the electoral process require constitutional amendments.

The OA's Guide for Officers and Advisers, which spells out the complete rules and procedures for elections, defines active as a "Boy Scout or Varsity Scout who carries a current national membership card and participates in at least some unit activities during the year." It even mentions that a boy who went off to college but still participates in the occassional unit meeting or goes camping when he's in town counts as active. It is up to the Scoutmaster to determine how many registered boys in the unit are active, but not determine the criteria for "active". The quote about the Scoutmaster determining who is active could be read either way though, so it is indeed vague. But the full rules and procedures are not.